Page 55 of The Queen’s Bodyguard

Argos smirked. “I thought you only wanted to touch in public.”

He braced his muscles and she stepped up with both feet, a grin finally breaking free from her at her own ridiculous action. “You know what I mean by not touching—Stop breathing, I’m going to lose my balance.”

Argos snickered, and it didn’t help that Theora yelped at his movement. “Who told you to stand on me?”

“I’m a queen,” she replied, her tone edgy, as if she’d taken offense. “I can do whatever I want.”

Argos sighed. And here he thought they’d been having fun.

He sat up, standing quickly enough that he could catch Theora by her waist before she fell over. She shrieked as they collided with the wall, clinging to Argos as if he’d just caught her from a great height. He laughed, taking her heated, blushing face in his hands.

“Hey, hey, sorry, Theora,” he said, trying to recover from his laughter for her sake—he was so used to Warriors with better reflexes, who didn’t make a lot of noise, that her reaction to it all had been unexpectedly adorable. “I would never drop you, I promise. You’re okay.”

“See? That’s what I’m talking about. That.” She slapped and shoved his hands until he let go, then stormed over to her suitcase. “Watch where you put your hands from now on.”

“Great. Next time I’ll let you fall and break your face.”

She was blushing so hot he could practically feel it from across the room. “Not funny.”

Argos sighed. He’d never met someone so stubbornly determined to not let herself have a good time.

He let Theora attempt to pick up her suitcase for only half a second before taking it from her hands and putting it on the desk.

“Moving on.” She opened it, taking a deep breath. “I feel as if we have a lot of things to talk about. I’m not even sure where to start.”

“At your point,” said Argos, sitting on the bed.

Theora threw a pair of rolled-up socks at him, the laugh she was so diligently fighting making her voice shake when she said, “Stop.”

He whistled. “What a line.”

“Sovereign, you’re annoying.” She removed her jewelry and placed it in a decorative box. “I’m certain Boada will handle the hunting log situation for us. In the meantime, let’s go to the gym. You need some exercise to burn off your magic. I don’t need you killing anyone during our excursion.”

And she gave him a pointed look before shutting herself in the bathroom to change.

Chapter 15

Theora

Theora tilted her head at her reflection, assessing her outfit with a shrewd eye. Her gold halter dress was long and loose-fitting, narrow pleats stretching the length of it. The neckline was closed at the throat, but then opened up at the clavicles, plunging down to the bottom of her sternum, with tape the only thing keeping the fabric from slipping sideways into indecency. Simple, but elegantly fun. She did love this dress, and it was perfect for a more casual afternoon of diversions. But was it the right dress?

Argos, fully clothed and ready, sat on the bed waiting. “I thought you picked your outfits before we got here?”

She sighed at her reflection. “I did.”

But I didn’t know Apollo would be joining us.

He wasn’t supposed to be here.

She’d just been so busy with preparing Argos and calming her nerves, it hadn’t crossed her mind that the man everyone expected her to marry might come face-to-face with the man she was trying to pretend was the love of her life. And now that she knew that Apollo truly did have romantic feelings for her, well…she’d never had a second thought about how much skin she put on show before today, but considering the circumstances, perhaps something a little more conservative would be more appropriate.

“This is far too flirty,” she said.

But she hadn’t so much as unbuttoned the first golden button at the back of her neck before she heard Argos say, “We’re already twenty minutes behind schedule.”

She glared at his reflection in the mirror. “I’m a queen. They’ll wait.”

“You’ve tried on five dresses already.” He sighed, shoving himself up from the bed. “Just wear that.”